Day 2 of the 2014 draft: Seahawks edition

After trading down the Seahawks finally pick

Heading into the NFL draft, I only saw three options for the Seattle Seahawks. They could either draft wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, draft guard Xavier Su’a-Filo or trade the pick to another team.

Kelvin Benjamin was selected before the Seahawks were on the clock by the Panthers with the 28th pick.

That left two options, draft Xavier or trade down. Luckily the Minnesota Vikings, a common trade partner for Seattle, wanted to move back up into the first round to select Teddy Bridgewater, who they hope will be their quarterback of the future. John Schneider and Pete Carroll jumped at the chance to acquire an early fourth-round pick to slide down from 32 to 40.

As Day 2 began, things were not going well for Seattle. Xavier Su’a-Filo was first off the board, followed by defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, offensive tackle Joel Bitonio and eventually wide receiver Marqise Lee — the four players I had hoped would drop to the Seahawks at 40.

Welcome to Seattle, Mr. Richardson.

The Seahawks responded by trading down five spots to add another fourth-round pick. Finally, with the 45th pick in the draft, the Seahawks select a player: wide receiver Paul Richardson from Colorado.Earlier in the day, Doug Baldwin claimed the Seahawks might draft Richardson during an interview with KJR.

I felt like the Seahawks could have drafted him later in the draft. Every year with their first pick they select a player whom I feel they could have gotten later in the draft.

For years, the Seahawks have needed a receiver who could really take the top off a defense and stretch the field. By selecting Paul Richardson they now truly have a speedster.

The big question is whether he will be able to stay on the field. He’s a very small, young player who has battled injuries throughout his career. Paul recognizes that his small size is not ideal for the NFL and has started adding weight.

Since the college football season has ended, he has added somewhere around 15 pounds to his frame and is looking to add about 10 more, which would put him at 6’0″, 190 pounds. DeSean Jackson is only 5’10”, 175 pounds, and he has not had a problem.

It has been mentioned that Paul Richardson is a poor man’s DeSean Jackson. I’d say that is a fair comparison as both players have the ability to take any ball to the house with their exceptional speed.

I’d expect Richardson to see a lot of playing time right away and make an immediate impact on offense.

The Seahawks also had the 64th pick in the draft where they selected tackle Justin Britt from Missouri. Britt missed part of his Junior season after tearing his ACL, but was able to overcome the injury and start all 14 games his Senior season.

He seems a bit stiff to me to play tackle at a high level in the NFL, which makes me wonder if Tom Cable doesn’t view him as a possible left guard.

I will say that he seems to have excellent awareness, which, with coaching, should propel him into a reliable blocker. I’d like to see him improve his upper body strength a little, especially if they plan on playing him inside.

The Seahawks did not make any moves in the third round, but they ended up taking three players in the fourth round: Cassius Marsh, Kevin Norwood and Kevin Pierre-Lewis.